Oil and gas separator



June 11, 1940. R. s. MQKEEVER 011. AND GAS SEPARATORV Filed July 22; 1938 12.5. M zever,

amt/WA Patented June 11, 1940 UNITED s'ra'rssv 2.204.509 on. AND GAS snraaa'ron Roy S. McKeever, Tulsa, Okla., assignor, by means assignments, to The Parkersburg Big is Reel Company, Parkersburg,

of West'Virl'lnia W. Va., a corporation a lication July 22,1938, Serial No. 220,805

ZCiaims. 101. 183-2?!) This invention relates to improvements in oil and gas separators and more particularly to specific improvements in the apparatus disclosed in my Patent No. 2,037,426, dated April 14, 1936.

In the apparatus of that patent a substantially conical element forms a part of the separating means in the upper portion of the tank, and 'in accordance with the present invention I arrange a similar substantially conical element adjacent 0 to the other one, and use them to provide a baille chamber into which gas may be expanded for cooling purposes. Proper thickness of metal in the cones and supports between them, governs the refrigerating transfer and working pressure of the vessel. By expansion of the gas into this chamber, the walls of the chamber are cooled and in turn cool or refrigerate the rising gas in,

the separator with the result that heavier hydrocarbons are caused to condense and to be precipitated. Such chamber as a unit acts to condense and separate liquid in solution as well as in suspension, depending, of course, on the degree of refrigeration.

Obviously such unit can be employed with steam instead of a refrigerating gas, where it is necessary to treat an emulsified fluid or to eliminate freezing due to expansion as the treated fluid leaves the vessel.

The invention will-now be explained in con- 3 nection with the accompanying drawing, in

which Fig. 1 is an elevation of a separator partly in vertical section and showing my improvements with an inlet pipe! by which a mixture of hydrocarbon oil and gas is introduced into a medial portion of the tank. A conventional floatcon- 12ml 8 is arranged at one side of the tank and" acts to control the outlet'valve 9 through which the oil is discharged. Gas passes out of the top of the tank by way of an outlet fitting to.

An annular partition Ii divides the interior" of the casing into upper and lower chambers I2 and I 3, and in accordance with the present invention, such partition is prefe ably formed of upper and lower spaced frusto-conical shaped imperial-ate sheets of metal 12a and l2b, each having its outer edge secured at in to. an annular wall its. V

A chimney It extends through the central portion of the partition and the inner annular edges of the sheets 12a and III) are preferably welded to the outer surface of the chimney so as to provide a fluid-tight chamber within the par-' tition.

As best shown in Fig. 2, such chamber is provided with an inlet nipple He and an outlet nipple iZd which are segregated trom one another by a radial partition lie which extends across the chamber from the chimney It to the In order to prevent fluid in the chamber l3' from directly entering the lower end of the chimney, a bailie i8 is provided. It is preferably formed of a circular plate of greaterdiameter than the chimney and is held in spaced relation to the lower edge of the latter by means of brackets I! which may besuspended from the chimney.

A cover 20 closes the upper end of the passageway, and it may be formed of circular bame plates 20a and 20b of considerably greater diameter than thechimney but of less diameter than the interior of the shell 5. The edge por tionsof these plates may be connected by an annular wall 200 so as to provide a chamber 20d.

Ii such a chamber cover is used. it may. be provided with internal baflles 20a to form a tortuous passageway between an inlet 20/ and an outlet "0.

Spiral wings or blades as are positioned betweenthe cover and partition and project'outwardl'y -from. the chimney. Each of these blades has a horizontal top edge secured to the-under surface of the cover. The lower edge of each wing slants downwardly and outwardly and snugly engages thev substantially conical upper surface of the partition. I'he inner vertical edge of each wing coincides with an edge of one ofthe vertical slots in the chimney, and the outer edges of the wings arespaced apart a greater distance than their inner edges, whereby the velocity of the fluid flowing through the flaring passageways between thevanes will be 5 admixed oil and gas enters the side of the separator shell through the pipe 6 which is positioned below the partition II. The oil having more mass than the gas tends to fall to the bottom of the separator due to the action of gravity, and it can be discharged through the float control valve 9; The gas, however, has a tendency to rise, and it carries a quantity of oil in suspension and in direct solution from the main body of the oil. The purpose of my improvements is to remove this quantity of oil from the mixture and solution with the gas. The gas with oil in suspension and solution, will be hereinafter referred ,to as rich gas. As said gas rises, it comes into cantact with the umbrella shed of partition ll,

which due to the shape of its under-surface tends to guide the rich gas toward the axis of the separator. However, as the lower portion of the chimney it is imperforate, the rich" gas must descend before it can enter the lower end of the chimney through the space between the plate 18 v and the-chimney. In thus traveling the rich gas is subjected to ,the refrigerating eifect of the refrigerating fluid passing through the' partition and, of course, liquid will be condensed out by refrigeration and also knocked out of the rich gas by impact with the chimney. Such liquid will gather on the surfaces of the partitionand chimney and will then drop'to the bottom portion of theshell.

As the gas passes up and out of the chimney, it will not only be whirled by the vanes 20a, but will be brought into contact with the cold upper surface of the partition ii, and due to the me chanical action and refrigerating eflect, more liquid will be removed from the chamber, and it will drain through a pipe 25 into the lower portion of the shell.

Ofcourse, if the cover it is used for refrigerating purposes, it will have the eflect of giving more square feet of refrigerating surface.

As heretofore mentioned a heating fluid such as steam can be passed through the chamber oil the partition, the chamber of the cover or both when heating is needed instead of refrigeration.

It will be evident that any suitable fluidat a required temperature may be passed through either the partition, the cover or both.

While I have disclosed what I now consider to be preferred embodiments of the invention, I am aware that changes may be made in the details I disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the claims.

what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an oil and gas separator of the type having a tank provided with a lower oil outlet, an intermediate mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, the improvement which comprises a substantially frusto-conical hollow partition positioned in the tank between the mixture inlet and the gas outlet, means for admitting a fluid into the partition and for discharging said fluid from the partition, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partition and having upper and lower portions, the upper portion of the chimney above the partition being slotted, a, hollow cover closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, means for admitting a fluid into the cover and for discharging said fluid from the cover, andvanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said hollow cover and said partition for causing gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the innensurface of the tank and to contact with the upper surface of the partition and the lower surface of the hollow cover.

2. In an oil and gas separator of the type having a tankprovided with a lower oil outlet, an

intermediate mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, the improvement which comprises a substantially frusto-conical hollow partition positioned in the tank between the mixture inlet and the gas outlet, baflles in said hollow partition to provide a tortuous passageway therethrough, means for admitting a fluid into the partition and circulating the same therein, means for discharging said fluid from the partition, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partitioned between said hollow cover and said hollow partition for causing gas flowing from the chimney through the slots in the latter to flow toward the inner surface of the tank and to contact with the upper surface of the partition and the lower surface of the hollow cover. I

ROY S. McmiEVER. 

